And Winter Betrayed Us
by lealila
Summary: Phineas and Ferb are seperated, almost re-united, and the Tri-State area faces its greatest challenge yet. In which summer can't be found, but a group of friends try to find it anyways. AU.
1. introducing

_**the introduction does most of the explaining on how "things came to be" but i feel i should warn you: there are more implications than there are explanations, as time goes on.**_

_**this isn't a romance fic. this is dark. people will get hurt, mentally and physically. nothing explicit, of course. but still; it's not pretty.**_

_**if characters seem too OOC, please do let me know. except vanessa. just...trust me on this.**_

_And Winter Betrayed Us_

_phineas and ferb are separated, almost reunited, and the tri-state area faces its greatest challenge yet. in which summer can't be found and a group of friends try to find it anyways. _

It is the third day of summer when Vanessa Doofenshmirtz takes over the Tri-State area. Ferb is fourteen and straight out of middle school.

His family—they are watching Modern Family when she appears on-screen. Throughout the whole of the speech, Ferb absently wonders if he's dreaming. But in all reality, he already knows that he is not.

Danville suddenly comes alive. Families try to escape—some manage, but only very few. His family isn't one of them. He is selfishly relieved when he learns Isabella, Buford, and Baljeet's families couldn't manage to leave, either. But he's more thankful that Candace is far away from here, off finishing her second semester at Yale. Jeremy, too; at least they will have each other.

Ferb banishes the dark thought as soon as it comes: he can't afford to think like that.

They think the military comes. It's been three days since her speech and takeover, and they hear gunshots far away and helicopters and planes overhead; but whatever the military is doing, it's not working. Ferb has no idea what sort of weapons Vanessa has, but he is pretty sure she has hostages to ward off the attackers.

Mum and Father won't turn on the telly to find out. During the day, the television stays shut off, but he knows Mum and Father watch it when they think he and Phineas are asleep.

Phineas and Ferb don't sleep much anymore. They go to bed at ten, staying up to midnight or so, just talking about anything except the Takeover they soon call it—what everyone soon calls it. When they hear the telly turn on, they'll sneak down to learn what has happened during the day. They'll stay up for an hour, huddled together on the carpeted stairs. When the telly clicks off, they scurry back upstairs into their room, clambering into one of the beds: they don't sleep alone anymore.

They hardly ever see their friends, but the parents are worried and that's understandable. None of them hold any sort of anger towards their parents.

They do, however, hold anger to Vanessa Doofenshmirtz. Except Ferb. He…he doesn't know what he feels. He once loved her—and maybe still does—but she's hurting everyone and holding hostages and killing people. It's not…he can't—

He needs to see her, needs to know why she's doing all of…_this_ because the girl he knew would _never—_

—Would she?

Ferb doesn't know. He does not want to know.

On the eight day of summer, Ferb notices that he hasn't seen Perry in days. That same day—well, later that night—Vanessa announces the capture of a dangerous enemy: Perry the Platypus.


	2. something always goes wrong

Ferb supposes that it was inevitable for something to go wrong. Even _now_, standing between Phineas and Isabella, he is not quite sure _what_ went wrong, exactly, but he figures _something_ had to. But their plan was sound. Phineas and Ferb spent a whole night—the same night they saw the announcement—working on how to find Perry, then get him and everyone else out. Phineas even managed to get all their friends together for their opinions. The Fireside Girls made some helpful changes—after all, they know more than the brothers do—and Baljeet and Buford saw no foreseeable problems once changes were made. The agreed to meet at five in the morning the next day: June 19.

Everyone is at least fifteen minutes early.

They head out, keeping to the dark with their dark clothes and dark communicators and dark eyes. Buford, Baljeet, and Adyson keep watch outside. Katie, Holly, Gretchen, Ginger, and Milly all create a distraction on Fifth Street, far away from City Hall, where Perry is being kept.

(A fleeting hope: the Fireside Girls have cameras everywhere except the county jail and City Hall. They don't need to explain: the brothers already understand.

So Phineas flips the coin and Ferb calls it; if they are wrong, they will both be at fault.)

Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella all manage to sneak in and take out the robot guards with the tools they use to build their inventions. They manage to slither up the air vents, making minimal noise.

But perhaps they _were_ making noise, though, because suddenly they are falling and falling into a heap, surrounded by floating robots. They force the kids to stand up, and that brings Ferb to _now_.

_Now_, he doesn't know why they aren't moving, but when Vanessa walks in, he figures she is why. Without thinking, Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella grab each other's hand.

"Ferb?" She sounds normal, not at all menacing, and just a little innocent; Ferb wonders if it is a farce.

"Vanessa." She even _looks_ normal. Despite the two years between them, the only difference he notices right away is the white lab coat hugging her sides.

Something flashes along her face—he's more than sure that it is amusement—and she draws the lab coat closer. "_What_ are you doing here?" She addresses him alone, but as it has always been, it is Phineas who speaks.

"That's none of your business!"

She gives a little smirk. "You're on my property. I think that it would make it my business."

Isabella scowls, her grip tightening. Ferb wonders if they will have to hold her back. "You don't _own_ City Hall. The _city_ does."

"Child, I am the city," Vanessa says dismissively. "Now, what are you doing here?"

Silence. A pet may just be a pet, but loyalty is loyalty, man or animal. Vanessa sighs, and waves her hand.

It happens so fast, Ferb doesn't understand what's happening until it's over.

Phineas collapses without a sound, or maybe the blast smothered any noise his brother could have made. Ferb is kneeling at his side instantly, Isabella milliseconds behind him.

"Phineas!"

"Don't worry, it's just a burn. I'm not going to kill children."

He barely hears her: too busy looking for the wound. Phineas is gasping—from shock or pain or what?—but points to his left shoulder. Isabella pushes Phineas so he is on his right side, his back facing Ferb. He looks for something anything to ease the pain heal the wound save his brother best friend family. Foolishly, they didn't bring any sort of first aid, but they do have water. Isabella rips off the shirt as Ferb opens the water bottle cap. Once the shirt if off, he pours the water on the burnt skin; Phineas starts gasping again, but hopefully from relief.

As he finishes the second bottle, Ferb feels himself being lifted grabbing his shirt collar, lifting him up up and away until he's face-to-face with Vanessa.

"I let you help him. Now tell me what you are doing here."

He doesn't speak. He can still hear Phineas.

Her face tightens, and her voice goes awfully low. "Ferb, if you don't tell me, I can do unspeakable things to Phineas."

His blood goes ice ice cold. "You said you don't kill children."

"Death isn't always the worst thing out there." Something flashes across her face—anger or humiliation or what?—and Ferb takes a deep breath.

"We're here for our pet platypus."

Her surprise is obvious. "_Perry_ the Platypus?"

Ferb blinks. "We want him back."


End file.
